Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans has moved on from one bad boy to the next. After she reportedly reunited with her ex Kieffer Delp — who spent time in prison for drug charges earlier this year — the MTV star began dating a new guy, Courtland Rogers. And after just three months of dating, the two tied the knot in a shotgun courthouse wedding on Tuesday, a Brunswick County, North Carolina magistrate confirms to Hollywood.com.
"Yeah its true," Evans' attorney, Dustin Sullivan, tells Hollywood.com. "I found out afterwards as well and I was at the courthouse."
But Evans and Rogers were also in the courthouse on Tuesday for another, non-nuptial related, reason. "The two were married at the courthouse by a magistrate after Courtland had his first appearance for his pending felony charge," Sullivan says. "He was in court for obtaining property by false pretenses and shoplifting."
So much for a honeymoon! Evans has always had a knack for attracting bad boys, starting with her child's father, Charles Andrew Lewis, who basically disappeared from Evans' life after she gave birth to their son Jace. Lewis was followed by the aforementioned Kieffer Delp and, earlier this year, Evans was briefly engaged to Gary Head. Evans and Head called off their engagement after they were both were arrested following a domestic dispute in June.
Now, Evans, who herself has been arrested five times, is married to a man who is currently fighting a felony charge in court. Well, they do say that couples should take an interest in each other's hobbies...
Follow Lindsey on Twitter @LDiMat.
[Photo Credit: Twitter]
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Considering The New Normal is about a gay guy named Bryan who runs a show called Sing, Glee creator Ryan Murphy gets most of the credit for putting stories from his real life on the NBC comedy. But don't forget about co-creator Ali Adler (formerly of Glee and Chuck) who does just as much of the heavily lifting, especially considering Murphy is spread as thin as Jennifer Hudson in her Weight Watchers commercial. "It's a true partnership," Adler says, adding that the show may seem to be crafted from Murphy's home life, but she is a mother raising children with another mother, so her normal is pretty new to most people too. "I think less than same gender parents, [the show is] about all parents. Every story is about everyone's story and the struggle to have a family."
So far the struggle to find a family — at least for Bryan (Andrew Rannells) and David (Justin Bartha), their surrogate Goldie (Georgia King), her daughter Shania (Bebe Wood), her grandmother June (Ellen Barkin), and Bryan's assistant Rocky (NeNe Leakes) — has been a hit with viewers, and after tonight's "mid-season finale" (God, I hate that term) the show has been picked up for a full first season for NBC. So, what can we expect from tonight, the show's first Christmas — I'm sorry — holiday episode?
"When you start having children, all the traditions you've come to expect shift a little bit," Adler says. "So it's about when you bring a baby into a home while preparing for the holidays, and dealing with the loss of the things in the past you might not get to do in the future. But then there are all the wonderful things that come along with having a child."
But speaking of holiday episodes, because of Hurricane Sandy, NBC preempted The New Normal, and we never got to see the show's Halloween episode and all of the elaborate costumes that went along with it. "That was so sad for our crew and our makeup team," Adler says. "The actors were in the chairs for hours getting all these prosthetics done. We'll figure out a way to bring it to people in the future. Shania was Honey Boo Boo." (Between Honey Boo Boo, Little Edie Beale, and Cher, is there a gay icon that Shania hasn't dressed as?) "It's such a special episode. What the audience missed is the resolution about the custody of Shania. Her father came down from Ohio and saw what an amazing mom Goldie is, and what an amazing family they are building in LA, and decided to stay and in his own way become another parent. Instead of pulling the family apart he became a part of this new family."
But we don't really want to hear about the episodes we missed — we want to hear about what to expect in the future. "We're going to get a visit from Matt Bomer, who is an amazing actor and hilarious. He plays Bryan's ex-boyfriend," Adler says about the openly gay Magic Mike actor's first openly gay role. "We're talking about all the stages of being pregnant and baby showers and a wedding for these guys. There should be some big surprises in there." But what about the biggest surprise of them all: the baby? Adler is coy about whether or not Bryan and David's son will be born by the season finale in May.
Adler says there won't be any more Real Housewives joining Miss Leakes on the show, but we'll see more of Sing, and Bryan and Rocky's work life. Adler hopes that they'll get to show off their cast for years. "I hope even more people start to watch the show," she says. "We're excited to bring fresh characters and a new perspective to the comedy genre. We have so many stories to tell, and it's hard because we have this limited number of episodes. Hopefully we'll have a lot of episodes in the future to tell all these stories. We're so excited to figure out ways to showcase our talent." And that talent is much more than just Mr. Ryan Murphy.
Follow Brian Moylan on Twitter @BrianJMoylan
[Photo Credit: Neil Jacobs/NBC; Trae Patton/NBC]
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SPOILER ALERT: 2012 is nearly over and will go down in history as one of the most twisty turny years for movies in recent memory. It felt like every week played host to a new blockbuster we lived in fear of having spoiled for us. When we finally caught them, they blew our minds with a big third act reveal or a death we just weren't ready to handle. Then there was the week after: were we allowed to talk about it? Who didn't see it already? Who doesn't know?!?
Looking back, here are the juicy tidbits from 2012 that had our heads spinning and our mouths zipped, to ensure that no one out-of-the-know was spoiled:
The Devil Inside: No Ending, Just a Website
January's first movie and modest horror hit The Devil Inside was met with a reasonable backlash when it attempted to continue the spiritual madness on the web. The film concluded with a nightmarish car attack, the invisible ghost jumping from human to human in a fury of violence. Then it just stops, cutting to black and flashing a URL: www.therossifiles.com. 2012 started with an enormous "WTF" moment that people couldn't wait to spoil.
The Grey: The Big Wolf Fight (or Not?)
The trailers for The Grey promised the ass-kicking Liam Neeson we are now familiar with, courtesy of Taken, fighting off a pack of wolves. That rules! But the big spoiler for The Grey is actually what isn't there. Joe Carnahan's film was really an introspective drama about man vs. nature, and the conclusion ended before the epic wolf punching fight even began. Suitable for the tale Carnahan was telling, but anyone looking for a canine brawl who found out the real story beforehand may have had the movie spoiled for them.
Chronicle: Steve Bites the Dust
When Steve (Michael B. Jordan) quite literally takes to the skies to check in on his troubled pal Andrew (Dane DeHaan) he finds out the hard way that his powers don't include the ability to not get struck by lightning. His jarring, shocking death alters the course of the movie, and sends a guilt-ridden Andrew down a very dark path.
Mirror Mirror: Sean Bean Actually Survived a Movie!
Sean Bean dies in everything. There's even video proof. So when the British actor bites the dust in the beginning of Mirror, Mirror, it was business as usual. Color us shocked when the evil dragon plaguing the kingdom and secretly controlled by the Evil Queen turns out to be the King. http://youtu.be/zEhtsgu6bJg
The Cabin in the Woods: The Entire Conceit of the Film
Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's latest creation was sold as your typical horror movie. A few kids head to the family cabin, stumble upon a room full of suspicious artifacts, and without too much delay, are attacked by a family of undead rednecks. But from frame one, it's apparent Cabin in the Woods is anything but. Behind the scenes of the gruesome events are a team of technicians who… well, maybe it's best to just see this one.
The Raven: The Fanboy Did It
When he's not screaming "EMMMMILLYYY!" at the top of his lungs, The Raven's Edgar Allen Poe (John Cusack) uses his literary knowledge to hunt down a serial killer who has kidnapped his one true love. When the mystery is finally solved, the "big reveal" is more a surprise that the exhausting thriller is finally coming to an end. Turns out, the guy who imitated Poe's stories to kill of his victims was just one of Poe's co-workers who was really into reading. An autograph wasn't enough?
Men in Black 3: Oh, So That's What Happened to Will Smith's Dad
Time travel allowed Men in Black 3 to call back the colorful, kooky alien designs of '60s era sci-fi, but it also allowed them to answer the question no one was wondering: whatever happened to J's dad? Turns out the former military man was murdered by the alien who J pursued back in time to the first Apollo launch. During his escape, he murders J's dad, a young J left behind to be comforted by — you got it — young K.
Prometheus: Weyland Is on Board and Vickers Is His Daughter for Some Reason
One of the major complaints against Prometheus was that Ridley Scott's Alien prequel didn't answer any of the big questions it set out to uncover. Who were the Engineers? Why did they create human life? What was that whole black goo thing about? Prometheus leaves it ambiguous, but it does throw in some twists for those clinging for "answers." For instance, it turns out David the Android was actually following the orders of Peter Weyland, the super old founder of Weyland Corp. who joined the crew in hopes of finding eternal life. And Vickers (Charlize Theron) is revealed to be his daughter! Why? C'mon, do you want everything to be so clear cut?!
That's My Boy: Leighton Meister Is Screwing Her Brother
No one walked into Adam Sandler's R-rated comedy expecting a revelation, but That's My Boy packed a surprise gag that knowing in advance would certainly lessen the blow. Suspecting that his son's fiancée Jamie (Leighton Meister) is cheating, Donny (Sandler) follows her during a routine night out. What he discovers is shocking even for the foul-minded: Jamie is sleeping with her brother Chad.
Brave: The Plot of the Movie… Revealed!
A well-constructed mid-movie twist or a bait and switch? Brave's big twist halfway through Pixar's Scottish fairy tale feels like an entirely different beast: Merida is a princess desperate to live a life in opposition to her overbearing parents, full of adventure. Then Brave takes a literal turn when her Mom actually becomes a bear. The filmmakers behind Brave insisted it was a big spoiler, but in the end, what couldn't be revealed was enough of a twist to deserve a stand alone movie.
Savages: No, It Actually Happened This Way
Oliver Stone has never shied away from a hefty injection of style, but the finale of his latest nearly ODs. A frantic shootout between a drug cartel and the duo of hunky growers and their shared girlfriend (Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively) ends in a blood bath — just like it did in the book. And then, through the magic of voice over, it undoes it all. Lively's narration reverts the action back to the beginning, with the feds arriving just in the nick of time. WHAT?!?!
The Dark Knight Rises: Comic Book Name-Dropping Out the Wazoo
Christopher Nolan never felt an obligation to the comic book origins of Batman, taking liberties with character origins and picking bits and pieces to suit his needs, but this year's The Dark Knight Rises was a cornucopia of fan service, all working to various degrees of success. The revival of Liam Neeson as Ra's Al Ghul, Marion Cotillard as his daughter Talia (who was actually the kid in the pit prison!), and the reigning champ of 2012 fan service, the reveal that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's John Blake character is actually named "Robin." Three heart attacks later, we can go back and assess, but in the moment, it was a spoiler lover's heaven.
ParaNorman: A Little Dead Girl Controls the Zombies, Who Hanged Her For Being a Witch
Yes, this is the spoilery conclusion of a stop-motion animated film aimed at children. Which is what makes ParaNorman great. After outrunning a hoard of zombies, Norman takes a second to figure out why the zombies are attacking. Turns out the undead Puritans aren't trying to hurt people, they just want Norman to read their controller, the ghost of a little girl who they sentenced to death way back when. Agatha was a medium, so she was sentenced to death. You could see how that would make a gal a little upset. ParaNorman ends with an emotionally complex conclusion and one of the biggest surprises of the year.
Looper: The Angsty Kid Has Superpowers and Might Be an Evil Crime Lord from the Future
Old Joe kicked and punched his way back in time in hopes of killing off future crime lord "The Rainmaker." Turns out — surprise! — his own murderous rampage may have actually been the cause of The Rainmaker (oh, the wonders of time travel logic). We spent a good deal of time wrestling with this idea, but the kid Young Joe encounters when he takes refuge on a local farm turns out to be telekinetic (double spoiler!) and very, very irritable.
Skyfall: The Bond Universe Resets Itself
When Casino Royale stripped Bond of its recognizable parts and took the path of a dark, gritty reboot, audiences thought the 007 series would never look back. Not so thanks to the crafty works of Skyfall director Sam Mendes, whose love for the old days of Bond ushered in a reintroduction of the early movies' ensemble. We got Q back, but the big spoiler was the death of Judi Dench's M and the reinstatement of a male headmaster, along with the reveal that Mi6 agent Eve is the beloved Moneypenny. Familiar faces with modern twists.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2: Lots of Familiar Faces Die, But It's OK Because It's Only a Vision!
Similar to Savages (and better yet, the little seen Nic Cage film Next), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2 sent Twihards into a twizzy when it changed up the established ending, substituting the novel's anticlimax for an all out war. The Cullens and the Volturi launch into a violent battle and characters that survived the book were suddenly being decapitated. And then in a flash — courtesy of Alice's psychic visions — the action snaps back to before the fight, Aro having witnessed the battle in a premonition. It took until the final ten minutes of the movie for audiences to actually catch their breath.
Lincoln: He Dies at the End
If only you had paid attention in History.
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
[Photo Credit: Lionsgate; Warner Bros.]
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On Nov. 16, Twilight fans around the world said goodbye to their favorite saga as the epic finale, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 finally hit theaters. Twilight fans – self-proclaimed Twihards – are some of the most passionate and driven fans any genre could ever hope to see. In the weeks leading up to the final Twilight movie's release, Hollywood.com decided to get into the mindset of a Twihard by profiling one of Twilight’s biggest fans.
Meet Jamie. A 28-year-old NYC resident originally from Florida, Jamie has been Hollywood.com's featured Twihard. We have been getting to know her and learning all about what a day in the life of a Twihard is like for the past two weeks. We began by focusing on the first days of her life as a Twihard, how she has met most of the cast, and how she feels about each of the books and movies. Now let's find out how she felt about the final film. SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO HAS YET TO SEE BREAKING DAWN PART 2. THE ENDING AND SHOCKING TWIST WILL BE DISCUSSED IN DETAIL BELOW.
When Jamie went to see Breaking Dawn Part 2, she wasn’t immediately sure she knew how she felt about it. “I think the beginning of the movie was a little slow. I was a little hesitant to decide if I liked it,” Jamie says. “It did pick up where it left off from a year ago, but while it’s been a year in the real world, the movie had been made all at once. So I was curious to see if it was going to be separated or if it was going to stick together.”
Because there has been a sizable gap of time in between each movie, Jamie feels like the film saga has not been seamless. “I definitely felt over the course of the past couple years that there has been a disconnect with each movie and the further you get to the last movie the further away you feel from the first,” Jamie says. “With Twilight, if you watch the first one and you watch the last one you definitely feel like they could be two totally different stories that are being told. It’s just the familiarity of the main actors that remind you it’s the same film.” But Jamie’s fears were answered immediately, as Breaking Dawn Part 2 picked up the second after Breaking Dawn Part 1 ended. Bella (Kristen Stewart) woke up from her transformation into a vampire, and it was as if no time had passed.
While she felt the beginning of Breaking Dawn Part 2 moved slowly, when the climactic fight scene began all hell broke loose. “What I was really waiting for is the fight scene and I was blown away,” Jamie says. “I knew that they said they were going to do something and I forgot what I was waiting for. So the fight scene came and all of a sudden they started fighting and they ripped Carlisle’s [Peter Facinelli] head off, which, okay they ripped his head off but then they threw him into the fire and everyone in the theater, I heard people going, ‘Holy shit!’ I couldn’t believe it.” This decapitation of one of the central characters in the Twilight saga was especially shocking because it was a massive departure from Stephenie Meyer’s book. Since there was no fight scene in the book, fans had no idea what was happening right before their eyes. “I was like, ‘Did I miss something in the book? Was there something I haven’t read?’” Jamie says. “And then they ripped Jasper’s [Jackson Rathbone] head off. And then they killed poor little Seth! And that’s when I got really upset.” Jamie was floored when the young werewolf was killed. “I was just like, no! He was so innocent, he was so cute. It was just so crazy!” Jamie says. “Everyone in the theater was gasping. Heads were being ripped off. In the back of my mind I was like, ‘Where are they going to go from here? This is going off the book. What’s going on?’”
This sentiment was echoing all around the theater, and the answer came immediately. It turns out that future-seeing vampire Alice (Ashley Greene) was actually just showing Volturi leader Aro (Michael Sheen) what the outcome would be if the Volturi insisted on fighting. There would be deaths on both sides, including Aro’s demise. In an act of self-preservation, Aro led the Volturi away and peace was achieved. “We all realized that the fight didn’t really happen. It was not really a dream sequence but it was foreshadowing,” Jamie says. “You could hear a sigh of relief in the theater. My friend grabbed herself to catch her breath. I was like, ‘Thank god!’” Jamie was happy that the movie got a much-needed dose of violence without changing the story. “You got to see the battle without it really affecting people,” Jamie says. “It was a nice way to add in violence to the film. You can’t have vampires and werewolves and have them all sit down for Thanksgiving dinner. It just doesn’t happen like that. When you have vampires and werewolves there needs to be more casualties so that was a great way of putting it in.” And as the violence was occurring, Jamie was shocked. “I was excited about it but my friend was freaking out,” Jamie says. “She was like, ‘No, Carlisle!’ I was just so excited to see fighting that I didn’t realize he was actually dying! It was just so crazy.”
Besides the shock of the battle scene, Jamie’s favorite part of the film was the end where Bella was able to project her supernatural “shield” and let Edward (Robert Pattinson) finally hear her thoughts. In a nice callback to the meadow scene that is so iconic to the franchise, Bella turned the tables on Edward and fans were treated to seeing the love story from a new perspective. “It was the end of the story and I thought they did that very well,” Jamie says. “Having Bella show Edward her feelings, I saw people in the theater just crying and you could hear sniffling. It was cute, and it was a nice way to end it. If I could take away one thing I remember from reading Breaking Dawn is at the end when she shows him how she feels, it’s just really sweet. It gave her more of the upper hand in the emotional aspect of their relationship. The entire story has revolved around her loving someone and him not believing her and there’s this struggle, and I think at the end she could finally show him, ‘We’re equals.’ I liked that.”
After the movie ended, Jamie was satisfied with the outcome. “I think they did a great job concluding the story,” Jamie says. “It was very visually appealing. There was a lot of action and a lot of special effects. It wasn’t an Oscar-winner by any means, but it was fun to watch. I think most fans will be really happy with the way they ended the story.”
And just when fans thought the movie had ended, they were treated to another surprise: The end credit sequence was a montage of all the characters who had been in the franchise, going all the way back to the first film. Regardless of whether or not they had appeared in the final chapter, every face was given equal time on screen. “I thought it was cute. I’ve never really seen that in other movies,” Jamie said. “They’ve had so many people and they’ve replaced certain people so it was a nice way to pay homage to them. We stayed around to see everyone.”
Now that she has seen the conclusion to the franchise, Jamie admits she’s not done with it. “I will definitely go see it again,” Jamie says. “I was so excited. It’s the end of an era.” But Jamie feels as if the attitude of fans is different surrounding this installment of Twilight. “It was more of a normal movie going experience this time than it was a final chapter,” Jamie says. “I think when you have a final chapter to any franchise I wouldn’t say the excitement is gone but people know it’s the end. You’re not going to find out what happens next. This whole movie wasn’t about Edward kissing Bella or Jacob [Taylor Lautner] taking his shirt off, it was closing the story. So it was a calmer ending and therefore it had a calmer audience, fight scene aside.”
But there is one scene where Team Jacob fans got their final shirtless shot of Lautner. In a desperate attempt to keep the Cullens around — so the object of his imprinting, Renesmee, would stay — Jacob transformed into his werewolf form in front of Bella’s dad Charlie (Billy Burke), beginning with the act of undressing himself down to his birthday suit. “That was hilarious. You have Jacob and Bella’s dad having this conversation and it looks like he’s coming on to Charlie!” Jamie says. “So that was really funny. It was a nice way of throwing comedy into all the drama that was going around.”
With all the epic action, has Breaking Dawn 2 ousted New Moon as Jamie’s favorite Twilight film? “No, New Moon will always be my favorite,” Jamie says. “I think New Moon is a coming of age story about a girl liking a boy, boy liking girl, boy leaving girl, and I think that every girl can relate to New Moon. I don’t think that anyone can relate to things that happen in Breaking Dawn.”
And as for the fans mourning the end of the Twilight era, Jamie is quick to assure them not to despair. “When a franchise ends, the fan universe doesn’t really die,” Jamie says. “But the enthusiasm in their day-to-day obsession is over. There will be something else. As we’ve seen over the past 10 years there’s always another franchise, another best-selling novel that comes out that you can get into so don’t worry.”
Like the final movie, this is the conclusion of Hollywood.com's A Day in the Life of a Twihard series. Read the first of this four part series here, the second part here, and the third part here.
Follow Sydney on Twitter @SydneyBucksbaum
[Photo Credit: Andrew Cooper/Summit Entertainment]
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If there's a cinematic alchemy award to be given this year director Bill Condon deserves to take it home after magically turning the tedious Twilight franchise into entertainment gold. 2011's Part 1 was a horror camp romp that turned the supernatural love triangle — the naval gazing trio of Bella Edward and Jacob — on its head. Breaking Dawn - Part 2 continues the madcap exploration of a world populated by vampires and werewolves mining even more comedy thrills and genuine character moments out of conceit than ever before. The film occasionally sidesteps back into Edward and Bella's meandering romance (an evident hurdle of author Stephenie Meyer's source material) but the duller moments are overshadowed by the movie's nimble pace and playful attitude. Breaking Dawn - Part 2 will elicit laughs aplenty — but thankfully they're all on purpose.
Part 2 picks up immediately following the events of the first film Bella (Kristen Stewart) having been turned into a vampire by Edward (Robert Pattinson) to save her life after the torturous delivery of her half-human half-vampire child Renesmee. She awakes to discover super senses heightened agility increased strength… and a thirst for blood. One dead cougar later Bella and the gang are able to focus on the real troubles ahead: Renesmee is rapidly growing (think Jack) and vampiric overlords The Volturi perceive her a threat to vampiric secrecy. Knowing the Volturi will travel to Forks WA to kill the young girl (a 10-year-old just a month after being born) The Cullens amass an army of bloodsucking friends to end the oppression once and for all.
Packed with an absurd amount of backstory and mythology-twisting plot points (some vampires can shoot lightning now?) Condon and series screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg mine revel in the beefed up ensemble of Breaking Dawn - Part 2 and thanks to a wildly funny cast it never feels like pointless deviation. Along with the usual suspects Lee Pace adds swagger to the series as a grungy alt-rock vampire Noel Fisher appears as a hilarious over-the-top battle-ready Russian coven member and Michael Sheen returns has Volturi head honcho Aro and steels the show. Flamboyant diabolical and a steady stream of maniacal laughter Sheen owns Condon's high camp vision for Twilight and he lights up the screen. There are a few throw away nations of vampires — the oddly stereotypical Egyptian and Amazonians sects are there mostly there to off-set the extreme whiteness — but the actors involved bring liveliness to a franchise known for being soulless. Even Stewart Pattinson and Taylor Lautner give personal bests in this installment — a scene between Bella and her dad Charlie (Billy Burke) is genuinely heartfelt while Jacob's overprotective hero schtick finally lands.
Whereas Breaking Dawn - Part 1 stuck mostly to the personal story relying on the intimate moments as Bella and Edward took the big plunge into marriage and sex Part 2 paints with broader strokes and Condon has a ball. Delving into the history of the vampires and the vampire world outside Forks is Pandora's Box for the director. One scene where we learn why kids scare the heck of the Volturi captures a scope of medieval epics — along with the bloodshed. Twilight might be known for its sexual moments but Breaking Dawn - Part 2 will go down for its abundance of decapitations. The big set piece in the finale is something to behold both in the craftsmanship of the spectacle and in its bizarre nature.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 had the audience hooting hollering and even gasping as it twisted and turned to the final moments. There's little doubt that even the biggest naysayer of the franchise would do the same. No irony here: the conclusion of Twilight is a blast.

Robert Zemeckis is a blockbuster director at heart. Action has never been an issue for the man behind Back to the Future. When he puts aside the high concept adventures for emotional human stories — think Forrest Gump or Cast Away — he still goes big. His latest Flight continues the trend revolving the story of one man's fight with alcoholism around a terrifying plane crash. Zemeckis expertly crafts his roaring centerpiece and while he finds an agile performer in Denzel Washington the hour-and-a-half of Flight after the shocking moment can't sustain the power. The "big" works. The intimate drowns.
Washington stars as Whip Whitaker a reckless airline pilot who balances his days flying jumbo jets with picking up women snorting lines of cocaine and drinking himself to sleep. Although drunk for the flight that will change his life forever that's not the reason the plane goes down — in fact it may be the reason he thinks up his savvy landing solution in the first place. Writer John Gatins follows Whitaker into the aftermath madness: an investigation of what really happened during the flight Whitaker's battle to cap his addictions and budding relationships that if nurtured could save his life.
Zemeckis tops his own plane crash in Cast Away with the heart-pounding tailspin sequence (if you've ever been scared of flying before Flight will push into phobia territory). In the few scenes after the literal destruction Washington is able to convey an equal amount of power in the moments of mental destruction. Whitaker is obviously crushed by the events the bottle silently calling for him in every down moment. Flight strives for that level of introspection throughout eventually pairing Washington with equally distraught junkie Nicole (Kelly Reilly). Their relationship is barely fleshed out with the script time and time again resorting to obvious over-the-top depictions of substance abuse (a la Nic Cage's Leaving Las Vegas) and the bickering that follows. Washington's Whitaker hits is lowest point early sitting there until the climax of the film.
Sharing screentime with the intimate tale is the surprisingly comical attempt by the pilot's airline union buddy (Bruce Greenwood) and the company lawyer (Don Cheadle) to get Whitaker into shape. Prepping him for inquisitions looking into evidence from the wreckage and calling upon Whitaker's dealer Harling (John Goodman) to jump start their "hero" when the time is right the two men do everything they can to keep any blame being placed upon Whitaker by the National Transportation Safety Board investigators. The thread doesn't feel relevant to Whitaker's plight and in turn feels like unnecessary baggage that pads the runtime.
Everything in Fight shoots for the skies — and on purpose. The music is constantly swelling the photography glossy and unnatural and rarely do we breach Washington's wild exterior for a sense of what Whitaker's really grappling with. For Zemeckis Flight is still a spectacle film with Washington's ability to emote as the magical special effect. Instead of using it sparingly he once again goes big. Too big.
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David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas consists of six stories set in various periods between 1850 and a time far into Earth's post-apocalyptic future. Each segment lives on its own the previous first person account picked up and read by a character in its successor creating connective tissue between each moment in time. The various stories remain intact for Tom Tykwer's (Run Lola Run) Lana Wachowski's and Andy Wachowski's (The Matrix) film adaptation which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. The massive change comes from the interweaving of the book's parts into one three-hour saga — a move that elevates the material and transforms Cloud Atlas in to a work of epic proportions.
Don't be turned off by the runtime — Cloud Atlas moves at lightning pace as it cuts back and forth between its various threads: an American notary sailing the Pacific; a budding musician tasked with transcribing the hummings of an accomplished 1930's composer; a '70s-era investigatory journalist who uncovers a nefarious plot tied to the local nuclear power plant; a book publisher in 2012 who goes on the run from gangsters only to be incarcerated in a nursing home; Sonmi~451 a clone in Neo Seoul who takes on the oppressive government that enslaves her; and a primitive human from the future who teams with one of the few remaining technologically-advanced Earthlings in order to survive. Dense but so was the unfamiliar world of The Matrix. Cloud Atlas has more moving parts than the Wachowskis' seminal sci-fi flick but with additional ambition to boot. Every second is a sight to behold.
The members of the directing trio are known for their visual prowess but Cloud Atlas is a movie about juxtaposition. The art of editing is normally a seamless one — unless someone is really into the craft the cutting of a film is rarely a post-viewing talking point — but Cloud Atlas turns the editor into one of the cast members an obvious player who ties the film together with brilliant cross-cutting and overlapping dialogue. Timothy Cavendish the elderly publisher could be musing on his need to escape and the film will wander to the events of Sonmi~451 or the tortured music apprentice Robert Frobisher also feeling the impulse to run. The details of each world seep into one another but the real joy comes from watching each carefully selected scene fall into place. You never feel lost in Cloud Atlas even when Tykwer and the Wachowskis have infused three action sequences — a gritty car chase in the '70s a kinetic chase through Neo Seoul and a foot race through the forests of future millennia — into one extended set piece. This is a unified film with distinct parts echoing the themes of human interconnectivity.
The biggest treat is watching Cloud Atlas' ensemble tackle the diverse array of characters sprinkled into the stories. No film in recent memory has afforded a cast this type of opportunity yet another form of juxtaposition that wows. Within a few seconds Tom Hanks will go from near-neanderthal to British gangster to wily 19th century doctor. Halle Berry Hugh Grant Jim Sturgess Jim Broadbent Ben Whishaw Hugo Weaving and Susan Sarandon play the same game taking on roles of different sexes races and the like. (Weaving as an evil nurse returning to his Priscilla Queen of the Desert cross-dressing roots is mind-blowing.) The cast's dedication to inhabiting their roles on every level helps us quickly understand the worlds. We know it's Halle Berry behind the fair skinned wife of the lunatic composer but she's never playing Halle Berry. Even when the actors are playing variations on themselves they're glowing with the film's overall epic feel. Jim Broadbent's wickedly funny modern segment a Tykwer creation that packs a particularly German sense of humor is on a smaller scale than the rest of the film but the actor never dials it down. Every story character and scene in Cloud Atlas commits to a style. That diversity keeps the swirling maelstrom of a movie in check.
Cloud Atlas poses big questions without losing track of its human element the characters at the heart of each story. A slower moment or two may have helped the Wachowskis' and Tykwer's film to hit a powerful emotional chord but the finished product still proves mainstream movies can ask questions while laying over explosive action scenes. This year there won't be a bigger movie in terms of scope in terms of ideas and in terms of heart than Cloud Atlas.
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With each outing in his evolving filmmaking career actor-turned-director Ben Affleck has amped up the scope. Gone Baby Gone was a character drama woven into a hard-boiled mystery. The Town saw Affleck dabble in action pulling off bank heists many compared to the expertise of Heat. In Argo the director pulls off his most daring effort melding one part caper comedy and two parts edge-of-your-seat political thriller into an exhilarating theatrical experience.
At the height of the Iranian Revolution in 1979 anti-Shah militants stormed the U.S. embassy and captured 52 American hostages. Six managed to escape the raid finding refuge in the Canadian ambassador's home. Within hours the militants began a search for the missing Americans sifting through shredded paperwork for even the smallest bit of evidence. Under pressure by the ticking clock the CIA worked quickly to formulate a plan to covertly rescue the six embassy workers. Despite a lengthy list of possibilities only Tony Mendez (Affleck) had a plan just enticing enough to unsuspecting Iranian officials to work: the CIA would fake a Hollywood movie shoot.
There's nothing in Argo or Affleck's portrayal of Mendez that would tell you the technical operations officer has the imagination to conjure his master plan — Affleck perhaps to differentiate himself from the past plays his character with so much restraint he looks dead in the eyes — but when the Hollywood hijinks swing into full motion so does Argo. Mendez hooks up with Planet of the Apes makeup artist John Chambers (John Goodman) and producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) to convince all of Hollywood that their sci-fi blockbuster "Argo " is readying for production. With enough promotional material concept art and press coverage Mendez and his team can convince the Iranian government they're a legit operation. A location scout in Tehran will be their method of extracting the bunkered down escapees.
Without an interesting lead to draw us in Affleck lets his eclectic ensemble do the heavy lifting. For the most part it works. Argo is basically two movies — Goodman and Arkin lead the Ocean's 11-esque half and Affleck takes the reigns when its time to get the six — another who's who of character actors including Tate Donovan Clea Duvall Scoot McNairy and Rory Cochrane — through the terrifying security of the Iranian airport. Arkin steals the show as a fast talking Hollywood type complete with year-winning catchphrase ("ArGo f**k yourself!) while McNairy adds a little more humanity to the spy mission when his character butts heads with Mendez. The split lessens the impact of each section but the tension in the escape is so high so taut that there's never a moment to check out.
Reality is on Affleck's side his camera floating through crowds of protestors and the streets of Tehran — a warscape where anything can happen. Each angle he chooses heightens the terror which starts to close in on the covert escape as they drift further and further from their homebase. Argo is a complete package with the '70s production design knowing when to play goofy (the fake movie's wild sci-fi designs) and when to remind us that problems took eight more steps to fix then they do today. Alexandre Desplat's score finds balance in haunting melodies and energetic pulses.
Part of Argo's charm is just how unreal the entire operation really was. To see the men and women involved go through with a plan they know could result in death. It's a suspenseful adventure and while there's not much in the way of character to cling to the visceral experience tends to be enough.
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It was the trickle of pee heard around the world. Cannes attendees were aghast and/or amused an infamous scene from The Paperboy that shows Nicole Kidman urinating on Zac Efron; this is apparently a great salve for jellyfish burns which were covering our Ken Doll-like protagonist. (In fact the term protagonist should be used very loosely for Efron's character Jack who is mostly acted upon than active throughout.)
Lurid! Sexy! Perverse! Trashy! Whether or not it's actually effective is overshadowed by all the hubbub that's attached itself to the movie for better or worse. In fact the movie is all of these things — but that's actually not a compliment. What could have become somethingmemorable is jaw-droppingly bad (when it's not hilarious). Director Lee Daniels uses a few different visual styles throughout from a stark black and white palette for a crime scene recreation at the beginning to a '70s porno aesthetic that oscillates between psychedelic and straight-up sweaty with an emphasis on Efron's tighty-whiteys. This only enhances the sloppiness of the script which uses lines like narrator/housekeeper/nanny Anita's (Macy Gray) "You ain't tired enough to be retired " to conjure up the down-home wisdom of the South. Despite Gray's musical talents she is not a good choice for a narrator or an actor for that matter. In a way — insofar as they're perhaps the only female characters given a chunk of screen time — her foil is Charlotte Bless Nicole Kidman's character. Anita is the mother figure who wears as we see in an early scene control-top pantyhose whereas Charlotte is all clam diggers and Barbie doll make-up. Or as Anita puts it "an oversexed Barbie doll."
The slapdash plot is that Jack's older brother Ward (Matthew McConaughey) comes back to town with his colleague Yardley (David Oyelowo) to investigate the case of a death row criminal named Hillary Van Wetter. Yardley is black and British which seems to confuse many of the people he meets in this backwoods town. Hillary (John Cusack) hidden under a mop of greasy black hair) is a slack-jawed yokel who could care less if he's going to be killed for a crime he might or might not have committed. He is way more interested in his bride-to-be Charlotte who has fallen in love with him through letters — this is her thing apparently writing letters and falling in love with inmates — and has rushed to help Ward and Yardley free her man. In the meantime we're subjected to at least one simulated sex scene that will haunt your dreams forever. Besides Hillary's shortcomings as a character that could rustle up any sort of empathy the case itself is so boring it begs the question why a respected journalist would be interested enough to pursue it.
The rest of the movie is filled with longing an attempt to place any the story in some sort of social context via class and race even more Zac Efron's underwear sexual violence alligator innards swamp people in comically ramshackle homes and a glimpse of one glistening McConaughey 'tock. Harmony Korine called and he wants his Gummo back.
It's probably tantalizing for this cast to take on "serious" "edgy" work by an Oscar-nominated director. Cusack ditched his boombox blasting "In Your Eyes" long ago and Efron's been trying to shed his squeaky clean image for so long that he finally dropped a condom on the red carpet for The Lorax so we'd know he's not smooth like a Ken doll despite how he was filmed by Daniels. On the other hand Nicole Kidman has been making interesting and varied career choices for years so it's confounding why she'd be interested in a one-dimensional character like Charlotte. McConaughey's on a roll and like the rest of the cast he's got plenty of interesting projects worth watching so this probably won't slow him down. Even Daniels is already shooting a new film The Butler as we can see from Oprah's dazzling Instagram feed. It's as if they all want to put The Paperboy behind them as soon as possible. It's hard to blame them.